


The Most Australian Jaegers That Ever There Were

by tielan



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Australia, Gen, Pre-Movie(s), Slice of Life, Sydney Shatterdome, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-26
Updated: 2014-01-25
Packaged: 2018-01-10 01:37:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1153227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tielan/pseuds/tielan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tales from the Sydney Shatterdome. Being Australian in a war isn’t all beer and skittles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Most Australian Jaegers That Ever There Were

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Australia Day 2014 to all Australians (real and fictional) and all who aspire to be Australians!
> 
> Somewhat inspired by [this prompt](http://pacificrimkink.livejournal.com/1613.html?thread=1453901#t1453901), although we haven't gotten to the pranks yet. This is really just the (slightly angsty) prologue that kicks everything off.

On a cool morning in May 2017, the Sydney Shatterdome is formally opened.

There’s a memorial for the victims of the Scissure, nearly three years dead. The Last Post is played. And more throats are closed than pairs of eyes open as thirteen year-old Chuck Hansen reads selected parts from the Ode of Remembrance in a voice that trembles only a little.

 

_They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;_   
_They sit no more at familiar tables of home;_   
_They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;_   
_They sleep beyond Australia’s foam._

_They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:_   
_Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn._   
_At the going down of the sun and in the morning,_   
_We will remember them._

A speech is given by the Governor-General. One is given by the Secretary-General of the PPDC. And then the Sydney Shatterdome is formally handed over to Marshal Anneka Gregory, who’ll be running this section of the PPDC in the defence of the South Pacific against the _kaiju_.

She gives the order to her LOCCENT Chief, Desmond Appin, already inside the Shatterdome with his team. And over the PA system, Chief Appin calls the Jaegers waiting out at the mouth of the harbour to come home.

Deafening cheers erupt from every vantage point along Sydney Harbour as the four Jaegers to be stationed in Sydney wade up into the shallows to the blaring thunder of Midnight Oil’s _My Country_ , settling on their platforms one by one.

All have ties to Australia – either in their manufacture or their pilots.

Steel Tiger claims the right by age and experience to step first into the Shatterdome. A Mark II manufactured and named by China, her pilots – Belle and Betsy Jiang from Sydney - stalk her through the shallow surf of the Middle Harbour Heads like the _kaiju_ predator she is.

In contrast, Lucky Seven swaggers – the casual and dangerous gait of the Hansen brothers, Herc and Scott. Lucky is a brawler’s Jaeger – hitting the _kaiju_ hard and powerful, and after less than a year in service, the Hansens already have a kill to their profile.

The new Mark IIIs – Vulcan Spectre and Tassie Devil – take their places with less fanfare. One might almost call it meek, but for the irony of as describing a 250-foot, 2000-tonne mecha of machine and steel as ‘meek’. Their pilot-pairs are younger, less certain of themselves, but they’ll learn.

What choice do they have with the  _k_ _aiju_ coming steadily through the Breach?

But the memorable moment of the day is made when Scott Hansen, emerging from the Lucky Seven Conn-Pod with his helmet in his hand, stands on the gantry above the crowded Shatterdome floor and bellows:

“ _ **AUSSIE-AUSSIE-AUSSIE!**_ ”

The assembled crowd scream back in patriotic instinct, “ _ **OI OI OI!**_ ”

“ _ **AUSSIE-AUSSIE-AUSSIE!**_ ” Scott hoists his helmet high.

The crowd answers by punching the air. “ _ **OI OI OI!**_ ”

“ _ **AUSSIE!**_ ”

“ _ **OI!**_ ”

“ _ **AUSSIE!**_ ”

“ _ **OI!**_ ”

“ _ **AUSSIE-AUSSIE-AUSSIE!**_ ”

“ _ **OI OI OI!**_ ”

There’s laughter and cheers, and here and there, tears. It’s a cry of rebellion, of defiance, of belief: that they can fight this war against the _kaiju_ – that they can _win_.

Herc thinks it fitting on this day of celebration, of hope and triumph. He believes in the Jaeger program – in the ability of humanity to fight back against these aliens.

Yet in spite of it all – the atmosphere of celebration and hope, Scott’s ebullience, Chuck’s bright excitement – Herc swallows hard against the empty ache beneath his breastbone.

Sometimes Herc wonders if the ache will always be there.

**Author's Note:**

> As I said there's more to come, including shenanigans, rivalries, pranks on fellow Australians, pranks on other countries, Jaeger sports, and the like.
> 
> The canon has been a little thin on Australians apart from the Hansens, so there will be a lot of original characters. A cast of thousands has been hovering in my head for a while, many of them sketched out from people I know in real life. Since I'm an Australian of non-Euro background, I've chosen to represent a broader Australian demographic than movies and TV like to show, so not everyone will be of Anglo descent in appearance or surname, nor universally speak with Steve Irwin-like accents.


End file.
